Searchers find crashed Thai army helicopter, 5 bodies

BANGKOK – Searchers in Thailand found the wreckage of a missing army helicopter on Monday along with the bodies of the five people on board, officials said.

Contact with the UH-72 helicopter was lost Sunday as it was flying over the northern provinces of Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai. The crash is suspected to have been caused by low visibility due to heavy storms, typical of Thailand's monsoon season.

The commander at the Kawila army base in Chiang Mai, Maj. Gen. Kosol Prathumchart, said the wreckage was found in a heavily forested area on Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain. He confirmed the death of an infantry division commander who was aboard with a four-man crew.

The helicopter disappeared as it was returning from a flood relief operation in Mae Hong Son.

In late June an air force helicopter crashed in the southeastern province of Rayong while on a resupply mission for a radar station. It took three days until searchers were able to find the wreckage of the Bell UH-1 helicopter and recover the bodies of its three crewmen.